Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a support surface for articles which contact body parts, more specifically, for padding in articles such as cycling gloves, gloves, shoes, insoles, socks, seats, protective pads and padding and the like.
Description of the Related Art
Existing cycling gloves typically are made of leather, vinyl and nylon and include a Velcro® closure for securing the glove to the hand. Many gloves include cushion members or padding on the palm area of the hand. The padding is usually made of foam or gel enclosed between the layers of the palm of the glove.
The disadvantages of existing padding in cycling gloves is that the cushion members are constructed to be very soft (in the range of hardness on the Shore OO scale) and become easily compressed between the user's hands and the handlebars of the bicycle. The cushion offers no support and thus often causes numbness in the hands and fingers of the rider and over time possible nerve damage to the rider's hands. Numbness may typically be caused by the pressure generated on the hand by the handle bars while riding. Additionally, the handlebars compress and deform the padding because of the small contact area of the handlebar on the glove. This further deteriorates the ability of the glove to protect the hand from the handlebars. Particularly, the handlebars of most bicycles are round metal or carbon fiber bars. The handlebars may be covered with a foam or cushion tape or elastic handlegrips that attempt to reduce the hardness of the bar with respect to the rider's hands. However, the use of cushioning on the bar or glove is not a successful solution, as evidenced by the high number of riders that experience continued numbness/tingling in the hands and or fingers during and after riding. Accordingly, a long-standing problem for cyclists is the problem of numbness/tingling in the hands and fingers when riding for extended periods of time.